Finding Local Fun Activities

Does anyone else try to find fun things to do locally instead of always looking for family activities that are further away? I'll have to admit that when I started doing that, I was stunned at the things there are to do, even within a fairly close distance that I hadn't known about!

I'm not necessarily talking about a staycation either... just something to do for a few hours on a weekend afternoon. The first thing I found was a program for children about maple sugaring... my daughter loved it. Who knew it was practically in my own back yard?!

Libraries often have programs for kids, too... and nature preserves. Well, there are so many possibilities, I won't name them all. I'd love to get ideas of new things to do by hearing what the rest of you have done with the kids for a free or nearly free weekend afternoon!